COMMITTEE ON ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCES HOLDS FIFTH SESSION FROM 4 TO 15 NOVEMBER 2013

Committee to Consider Reports of Argentina and Spain

31 October 2013

The Committee on Enforced Disappearances, the Committee responsible for reviewing how States implement the provisions of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, will hold its fifth session from 4 to 15 November at the Palais des Nations in Geneva.

At the opening of the session on 4 November, the Committee will meet in public at 10 a.m. to hear a statement from a representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, followed by an exchange of views, followed by the adoption of its agenda and a minute of silence in remembrance of victims of enforced disappearances. During this meeting the Committee will also hear a statement by the Chairperson of the Committee, elect new officers and adopt its agenda.

The Committee will consider the report of Argentina (CED/C/ARG/1) on Monday 4 November 2013, at 3 p.m., and on Tuesday 5 November 2013, at 10 a.m. The report of Spain (CED/C/ESP/1) will be examined on Tuesday 5 November 2013, at 3 p.m., and on Wednesday 6 November 2013, at 10 a.m.

In closed sessions the Committee will discuss matters related to its methods of work, hold its yearly meeting with the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances and a thematic discussion on ‘enforced disappearance and military justice’. The Committee will also review communications, information and requests regarding alleged violations of the Convention.

During the session, the Committee will also meet with States, relevant United Nations bodies, specialized agencies, intergovernmental organizations, national human rights institutions, and non-governmental organizations. The Committee will also discussed lists of issues regarding the reports of Germany and the Netherlands, which will be considered in future sessions.

Further information on the Committee and its fifth session can be found here.

The Convention states that no one shall be subjected to enforced disappearance. No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification for enforced disappearance. The Convention contains a universally agreed definition of enforced disappearance as “the arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the State or by persons or groups of persons acting with the authorization, support or acquiescence of the State, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of the disappeared person, which place such a person outside the protection of the law”.

The main goals of the Convention are to hold States responsible for the protection of persons from enforced disappearances by defeating impunity, to prevent new cases of enforced disappearances and to guarantee the right to the truth and to obtain reparation of both the disappeared and their families.